🔨 Violent offender sentenced to over two years in prison

Howard Lee Ebanks, a man deemed a high risk for violent offences, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison following his conviction for two separate assaults in November 2021. The attacks, which occurred within a week of each other, involved two different victims. Ebanks had previously pleaded guilty to GBH and wounding in relation to the assaults. One attack was described as a revenge attack, while the other was committed in a fit of rage. Ebanks was on probation at the time of the assaults, having been given a suspended sentence for a previous violent attack in 2018. 🚔

The first assault occurred outside Kelly’s bar in West Bay, where Ebanks attacked Devin Anthony Ebanks. The second assault took place four days later outside Hell Gas station, where Nicholas Derrick McLaughlin was the victim. In both instances, Ebanks inflicted severe injuries on the victims. Despite being arrested and admitting to the assaults, Ebanks continued to justify his actions by citing past traumas and a belief that one of his victims was involved in the murder of his brother. 🚨

Justice Cheryll Richards, who presided over the case, took into account a detailed psychiatric report when determining the sentence. She described the attack on Devin Ebanks as "vicious and brutal" and the assault on McLaughlin as a "prolonged assault using a machete". After considering all mitigating factors, Justice Richards arrived at a sentence of 18 months for each offence, with part of the second sentence to be served concurrently. This resulted in a total sentence of 27 months, taking into account time already served. 🏛